My Day on a Plate + GIVEAWAY

I had a chance to have a Skype chat with award winning nutritionist Dr Joanna McMillan for the My Day on a Plate campaign with Australian Pineapples.

Australian Pineapples is a not-for-profit organisation run by Horticulture Australia that supports Aussie growers and educate people regarding the benefits of pineapple.

Anyway, did I mention I’m on Weight Watchers? I’ll write more on that later especially because I’ve lost nearly four kilos since starting this over a month ago. My talk with Joanna topped up the information I’ve started to gather on living healthier.

Here’s what I got from our session:

Try to stick to low GI foods.

I can mash anything up instead of just mashed potato, which isn’t low GI. I can do sweet potato, cauliflower, carrots, peas and more, mix with some Philadelphia, garlic, spices and stuff.

Try to stick to wholegrain bread more than wholemeal, or try sour dough with soy linseed from your local bakery.

Seafood rocks (they are also very low on ProPoints with Weight Watchers).

Try not to eat the kids’ leftovers. It turns out when you just graze instead of eating properly you end up eating more. Also, being the family trashcan for leftover food is never good.

Help your kids with school readiness by structuring the day’s three meals, morning tea and afternoon tea.

Snacking on fruits, like pineapple, is a good thing.

Finally, health is not a diet. It’s a lifestyle. There’s no such thing as “I’m on a break” – something which I’m starting to learn well. I was afraid I’d gain weight during the Easter long weekend but instead I lost over half a kilo. Yay!

Now you’re turn to say yay! The good people at “My Day on a Plate” is giving away a $100 Woolies voucher to one lucky winner to help you start a healthier lifestyle.

To enter, just answer this in 50 words or less: What’s your tried and tested doable health tip? Something that would be helpful to those who are just starting this healthier lifestyle (like moi).

Plan your meals for the week in advance and go and buy all the ingredients you need. Not only will you tend to make healthier meals it also saves a lot of money and the nightly drama of what to cook for tea.

Always make sure you do your grocery shopping after eating a healthy meal, so you won’t be tempted to buy all the chocolates and ice cream that you see, and do your shopping with a hand basket whenever possible which ensure you only buy what you can carry!

Ensure your meals are full of colour! Bright coloured vegetables add not only visual appeal but also freshness and health benefits that cannot be beaten. The more colour the better!Kell Kelly recently posted..Mad Mummas New Home!

You know the saying out of sight out of mind? I find this to be so true, especially when it comes to healthy eating. I’ve started putting a bowl full of fresh fruit on my kitchen table, right where you can’t miss it and not only am I eating more fresh fruit but the kids are able to help themselves to whatever they want and I’ve even seen hubby grab an apple instead of taking a few more steps towards the pantry!

Any health journey you start the first thing you need to do is to believe in it and give it time to show results.When choosing a healthy diet I believe in getting to basics and choose ingredients for my diet which are closest to their natural form.

I am leading a healthy lifestyle for the last one year and these are my tips……..

Breakfast
•Swap from whole milk to semi-skimmed milk.
•Swap a sugar-coated breakfast cereal for a wholegrain breakfast cereal such as porridge or shredded wholegrain wheat cereal, with no added sugar.
•Swap a sprinkle of sugar on your breakfast cereal for a topping of fresh or dried fruit.
•Swap full-fat Greek yoghurt for low-fat or fat-free Greek yoghurt.
Lunch
•Swap white breads, bagels and muffins for wholegrain varieties.
•Swap a cheddar cheese filling in your sandwich for reduced-fat hard cheese.
Dinner
•Swap creamy sauces for vegetable-based sauces on your pasta, meat or fish dishes.
•Swap mashed potato made with butter and whole milk with low-fat spread .
•Choose leaner cuts of meat, for example, swap streaky bacon for back bacon.
•Swap the frying pan for the grill when cooking meat.
Drinks
•Swap your usual coffee made with whole milk to a ’skinny’ coffee made with skimmed milk.
•Swap your cordial for a cordial with no added sugars.
•Swap a few of your sugary drinks for a glass of water.
•Swap hot chocolate made with whole milk and served with whipped cream for a hot chocolate made with skimmed milk and no cream.
Snacks
•Swap yoghurt-coated raisins for plain raisins.
•Swap salted nuts for unsalted nuts.
•Swap cheese straws for rice cakes with lower-fat cream cheese